Vows on Coffee Cups
by MiniSouffleCafe
Summary: A wedding's eve for The Doctor and Clara, the two spending their time together over cups of sweet, blissful coffee. (An Eleven & Clara one-shot following the happy endings of Behind Her Smile)


**A/N: **This takes place after the ending of _Behind her Smile_, and if you are familiar with that specific piece of writing, hello again! :D If you just found this, hello to you too! :D (There may be a few mere references to _Behind Her Smile_ that you will need to know to understand; just know what Sally owns a café, the rest will be mainly self-explanatory. ;D)

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_**~ Vows on Coffee Cups ~**_

_ "The universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles." - The Eleventh Doctor  
_

Her eyes stared at the little silver ring that hugged her fourth finger, for then she only realized that a part of her was still a little girl. She had remembered when she was seven; she couldn't wait until that special day when she'd have a reason to wear all white, to wear a lace veil, to hold a little family of flowers in her tiny hands. One could say it was only a mere dream of a child, and yet it was still in the back of her mind. And so, tomorrow was a special day, the day when that little seven-year old child would finally have their little yet very important dream cast out into actuality of her twenty-six year old self. That little girl's name was Clara Oswald.

She looked around the empty café, then remembering the reason she was there in the first place. Clara, along like any other student and any other educator, was on a summer holiday. She had started as an English teacher in early September of the previous year, and it was one of the things that she loved, teaching. After the school year had ended, she offered Sally a break, for the mornings, at the least. Clara was happy enough to wake up every morning during her summer holiday to open up the café for her, and she didn't so much as to care about being such a morning person, she had gotten used to it. It was different though, seeing the place so empty at six thirty-five in the morning; it was so blissfully quiet. Clara had a particular liking into the state of atmosphere.

Her chin was propped up by her left hand, her eyes staring at the coffee that quietly dropped into the pot, carefully made with each little trickle. While she watched the coffee being made, Clara thought. She was getting _married _tomorrow, tomorrow she'd be staring at herself in a mirror and not even see herself anymore, and that wasn't exactly a bad thing. Tomorrow, those eyes of a seven-year old girl will be looking out of her twenty-six year old self and would finally get the chance to say that her dream wasn't a dream. Tomorrow, her name would take on another. _Clara Oswald-Smith. _She laughed lightly, for it would certainly take a while to get used to it. Tomorrow, promises would be made vows, something that Clara thought was a little extraordinary, in the best way. Marriage is a promise, like a name, like a job, like a family. Clara smiled to herself for many reasons, and one would know why.

She heard a light knock on the front door, turning her head slightly to see a boy with a ridiculous bow-tie and certainly eccentric chin standing behind its glass window, a boy that was just more than familiar with Clara at the least. He gave her a smile, and she smiled back. She hopped off of her bar stool, for her feet were certainly far from the ground compared to other people's, and leisurely toddled over to the front door, carefully unlocking it to allow him access. "We're not open yet, mister." she teased, raising her eyebrows at his presence, at which point she laughed at him playfully. "Doctor, what are you doing here so early?"

He pulled her into a hug and tousled her hair, as if he missed her too much, even though she only saw him yesterday afternoon. "Thought I'd come early and say hi before I went to work." he said softly, his arms still around her tiny physique. Clara smiled up against his chest. She enjoyed the little fifteen minute conversations that she could have alone with him, like this, like any other. "Thank you." she mumbled carelessly, hugging him back. She remained silent for a minute, her cheek pressed up against his chest, the door still open to let in a breeze. She pulled away after a while to close the door behind him, to which she carefully placed her hands on his shoulders. "Thank you for _everything_." she smiled as he took her hand and spun her around, then placing his hands on her waist and slow dancing with her. Clara giggled, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, suppose I need a bit of practice before tomorrow, I swear, I'm going to be dancing like a drunk giraffe." he admitted, only making her giggle even harder. She messed with a strand of his long brown hair, combing it carefully with her thumb and index finger. Yes, The Doctor was especially awkward in his bearing, he was amazingly childish and clumsy, which was only a diminutive portion of the things that Clara found extraordinary about him. He was crazy, and ingenious, and unusual, and _beautiful_. "I love you." Clara mumbled quietly as if someone else were to hear, and she could almost feel his smile. "I love you too, Clara Oswald." After that it just stayed quiet, which was far from uncomfortable. Clara smiled softly to herself, for love was a pragmatic fiction and just plain insane. In other words, unexplainable.

"Hey," Clara finally said after what had seemed like an infinity of quiet and slow dancing, carefully pulling away as if she didn't want to damage anything. "You want coffee?" she laughed lightly, to which he laughed back and nodded his head. She then quietly toddled behind the counter and took out a pair of coffee mugs, then proceeding to make coffee for two. He sat behind the counter, perched on a bar stool, silently watching her. After a minute or two, she turned back and carefully presented a mug, carefully placing it on the counter. She smiled at him as he took a sip, then taking a sip of hers. "Just think of everything, everything we've done, it's...it's insane." Clara said quietly, staring into her mug. Her first impressions on an airplane, first dates in Rome, a first kiss in New York, and almost a year later, a marriage proposal in the same place. It was a pure passage of deranged and charismatic love, sounding exceptionally cliché at the same time.

"John," she whispered, him looking up, probably from the matter of her using his real name. Her tiny hands hugged her coffee mug as she rested her elbows on the counter, staring at his green eyes. "We're..." she begun, then taking a tiny respite to look down at her coffee. "We're getting _married _tomorrow, and then we're going to live a life, have kids, and..." she breathed in carefully, at which at that point he realized that she was crying. She wiped her cheek with the sleeve of her coat, smiling at him; a smile that he had really grown so much as to love. "...the rest of our life is starting tomorrow, and I can't do so much as to grin like an idiot." she said weakly. He laughed softly, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. His hand remained there for a minute. "Don't worry," he smiled back. "I'm more of an idiot than you are." Clara laughed, then taking his hand to hold it in hers. "You're _my _idiot." she giggled lightly, reaching across the counter to kiss him. The Doctor was an idiot, a beautiful one to Clara. She pulled away, stroking the lock of hair that always got into his eyes. "And you always will be. Promise?" she asked him softly, her voice barely a whisper.

He smiled back. "Promise."

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**A/N:** _Promise _will be our _always. _;)

And alas, thank you for reading. :)


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